Warning please read atypical myopathy - sycamore *warning*

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charliecrisps

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Hi, my horse is in the equine hosp after going down with colic 'like' symptoms. Vet diagnosed colic, luckily I insisted on bloods being taken as it came back that he is suffering with atypical myopathy from the sycamore seeds, so could get him up to hospital straight away instead of waiting!

I never knew these were poisonous as aren't listed as so in any of my books!

He is critical and the survival rate is so low I just wanted to warn people - fence off the sycamore's! mine had been in same field for 3 years and not suffered so please take note, if I can save just one horse and save people going through this as it is truly heart-breaking to watch
 
ooh think ill be getting the chainsaw out this wkend then :( so sorry to hear what your boy is going through. everything crossed he pulls through for you x
 
So sorry to hear this. The research linking sycamore seeds to Atypical Myopathy has only come out this year, which is why it is not mentioned in your books. Just to give you a glimmer of hope, a friend's pony went into equine hospital this weekend with AM but is now back home and will hopefully recover (possibly was at the same hospital as your horse, looking at your location). Fingers tightly crossed for a happy ending for your horse.
 
I really hope your horse is OK.

What the heck can we do about the friggin' sycamores though? I've got some along one edge of my field - when the link came out I brought the fence in and chopped down the branches that were in reach. But the little flying seeds get EVERYWHERE, it's not like acorns that just drop nicely under the trees and you can fence them off. They're flying right across my fields, through the neighbours' gardens, out onto the road. And there are loads of sycamores in my neighbourhood too. You would be hard pressed to find a field locally that isn't downwind of at least one sycamore.

The bigger trees are decades old and HUGE so it's not a case of just getting the chainsaw out.

The other problem with chopping them down at this time of year is that the seeds will just moult more and create more saplings. One of my neighbours chopped a big tree the other year, and the spores spread so far and wide there are now far more sycamores in the surrounding area to the old tree than there were before. They do spread like weeds.

I'm making sure they have an ad lib supply of good hay, and feeding them a bit more than I would otherwise, and I'm scraping up what I can when I poo pick. What else can we do?
 
Oh everything crossed for you and boy :( Really hope he makes a speedy recovery.
Luckily no sycamore or oak trees near me, just plenty of ash trees.
 
EstherYoung said:
I really hope your horse is OK.

What the heck can we do about the friggin' sycamores though? I've got some along one edge of my field - when the link came out I brought the fence in and chopped down the branches that were in reach. But the little flying seeds get EVERYWHERE, it's not like acorns that just drop nicely under the trees and you can fence them off. They're flying right across my fields, through the neighbours' gardens, out onto the road. And there are loads of sycamores in my neighbourhood too. You would be hard pressed to find a field locally that isn't downwind of at least one sycamore.

The bigger trees are decades old and HUGE so it's not a case of just getting the chainsaw out.

The other problem with chopping them down at this time of year is that the seeds will just moult more and create more saplings. One of my neighbours chopped a big tree the other year, and the spores spread so far and wide there are now far more sycamores in the surrounding area to the old tree than there were before. They do spread like weeds.

I'm making sure they have an ad lib supply of good hay, and feeding them a bit more than I would otherwise, and I'm scraping up what I can when I poo pick. What else can we do?
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Basically, they said this only affects oct - dec. So if you can limit grazing/ access to the area during these times then that would be wise. It occurs in field kept horses more than those stables overnight due to time spent grazing. Make sure plenty of grass/hay so they aren't tempted to gobble the leaves and seeds. Although interestingly I read not to feed the hay from the ground due to the bacteria either.
The helicopters do get everywhere in the wind, so many horses affected this year because of all the wind/rain a whole load of leaved and seeds have literally been 'dumped' on the ground in one go. The Bell equine told me they don't know how many the horses need to eat to cause this. You can just fence off as best as you can and give plenty of other forage.

On a positive note, my boys toxin levels have started to drop this morning! Fingers and everything crossed. My trees are being chain sawed down, not sure if im allowed but theyre going!! I wont take the risk again.
 
So sorry to hear about your horse, hope is is getting better now.

Could you ask you vets if it is just specifically Sycamores, of also other trees in the family like field maples etc?
 
I am so sorry to hear about your horse I really do hope he pulls through. My homebred youngster died within a matter of hours from this at the weekend and like you I hadn't heard that Atypical Myopathy had now been linked to sycamore seeds.
Watching her being taken away from me by the illness was truly devastating especially as she was only three and I had her from conception. I really hate to hear that anyone else has to experience this horrific illness and I would urge anyone who has sycamores in their pastures to do everything they can to keep their horses away from them. I was so spooked I left my own private stables immediately as I couldn't face seeing another one of my beloved horses suffering in the same way :(.
My vets have already treated half a dozen cases this Autumn so it seems that this is becoming more common.
 
I hope this is the start of your boy turning a corner, CC. Fingers crossed....

As I say, be careful just taking a chainsaw to them, particularly if it has seeds on it at the moment. I'll have to take a pic of the one my neighbour (who is a tree surgeon) chopped down, as it's just gone mental with re-growth in a couple of years. I honestly don't know what the answer is :( Damned trees.
 
We lost three to it at my old yard. all of them were out 24/7.
op, is your horse out 24/7?
my vet yesterday said that if they eat one or two and are only out for a few hrs with hay the rest of the time then its not such a risk. however if they can eat piles of them and are out 24/7 then the risk is high.
i asked the vet as i have a sycamore and im not grazing the field although i fenced it off but the seeds blow everywhere
 
Fingers crossed, Charliecrisp and so sorry to hear about your youngster, Lickety-split..how alarming and just when I thought it was all covered now my horses had left the summer field with the oak trees in. will now go and look at the Sycamores in this field. Thank you for the warning.
 
Thistle said:
So sorry to hear about your horse, hope is is getting better now.

Could you ask you vets if it is just specifically Sycamores, of also other trees in the family like field maples etc?
Click to expand...

This is anything from the Acer family. This includes maples, but in the UK seems to be mainly sycamores in the fields that have caused the damage
 
How kind of you to warn people at this time you must
be so worried.Can i ask you to keep us informed and
wish you all the best.If you google atypical myopathy
sycamores lip hook labs have warnings on there. So
Thankyou.Can you tell us please how your bloods
diagnosed it what were the readings ie. Liver etc
The symptoms are quiet different on websites to that
of just colic so you were very wise to ask for bloods.
Why is this not on vet section Best wishes to you.x
 
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